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Sunday, 2 January 2011

Leviticus 13, 14 - Don't get mouldy!

We have two chapters here that deal with skin diseases and household mould. Our first reaction may well be what is this doing in the Bible? 
With the skin diseases there is an emphasis on uncleanness, but there also to seem to be obvious health benefits as well. There would be a concern with leprosy in particular. There was also concern about various boils. In all these cases the priest gave the problem time to develop so that they could determine whether or not it was serious. With problems that we all have some are things that will just go away in time, others are much more serious. We do not need to treat every single failing or even every single sin as if it was the end of the world needing full scale exorcism or something to deal with. Somethings will just be transitory, but things that persist do need to be dealt with.
Next we turn to fabrics going mouldy. The prime concern was whether or not the mould had spread and was deep rooted. Again, this is relevant with sin and failings. Sometimes the best approach is "just get over it", at other times the matter is more widespread or deep rooted and needs closer attention.
Similar rules applied to moulds within houses.

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